Violin and Guitar duo play an International Program of Music at Collective Visions Gallery.

PRESS RELEASE (Short version:)


WHAT: Violin and Guitar duo play an International Program of Music at Collective Visions Gallery.

WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m., May 23, 2008

WHERE: Collective Visions Gallery, 331 Pacific Avenue, Bremerton,

HOW MUCH: $15 for advance sales, $18 at the door

FOR TICKETS: Phone 360 377 8327 or visit the gallery during business hours (10 to 5 Tues. through Sat.)

MORE INFO AT: www.collectivevisions.com

Berlin based violinist Akemi Uchida teams up with guitarist Michael LeFevere of the Cornish College of the Arts faculty to present an evening of classical compositions. The program will feature works from the Old World by Bartok, Ourkouzounov, and folksongs from Japan and Turkey, and from the New World with works by Piazzolla, Smith-Brindle, and folk-inspired music from Colombia.

Both musicians have distinguished themselves on a national and international level. Ms. Uchida is a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. She has given solo recitals in Europe, the US, Latin America and Japan.
Michael LeFevere has taken first prize in several regional, national and international competitions including the International Guitar Congress in Corfu, Greece, and the LMC Awards-Tour Competition in Seattle. He has performed with Seattle Opera and will be performing at the Seattle Symphony’s Guitar Night in October.

Cosponsors: Dr. Ray Hedahl & Dr. Mariann Tonder, Poulsbo Eye Care, Silverdale


For questions about the musicians contact Michael LeFevere at : (206) 509-4815 or
(206) 368-6918



PRESS RELEASE (Long version)



WHAT: Violin and Guitar duo play an International Program of Music at Collective Visions Gallery.

WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m., May 23, 2008

WHERE: Collective Visions Gallery, 331 Pacific Avenue, Bremerton,

HOW MUCH: $15 for advance sales, $18 at the door

FOR TICKETS: Phone 360 377 8327 or visit the gallery during business hours (10 to 5 Tues. through Sat.)

MORE INFO AT: www.collectivevisions.com

Berlin based violinist Akemi Uchida teams up with guitarist Michael LeFevere of the Cornish College of the Arts faculty to present an exciting evening of classical compositions both old and new The program will feature works from the Old World by Bartok, Ourkouzounov, and folksongs from Japan and Turkey, and from the New World with works by Piazzolla, Smith-Brindle, and folk-inspired music from Colombia.






Both musicians have distinguished themselves on a national and international level. Ms. Uchida, is a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. She has given solo recitals in Europe, the US, Latin America and Japan, including with the Seattle Philharmonic Opus One Chamber Ensemble, the University of Akron Symphony Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall. She has performed at numerous festivals including the Verber Festival in Switzerland, the New York String Seminar, the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Costa Rica International Music Festival.
Before moving to Seattle, Michael LeFevere performed with the early music ensemble Collegium Musicum. at Kent State University. In 1993 he took first prize at the Northwest Guitar Festival and at the Portland Guitar Festival, in 1995 he took first prize at the International Guitar Congress in Corfu, Greece, and in 2001 he won the LMC Awards-Tour Competition in Seattle. He has given solo concerts throughout the Northwest and in several locales in Greece, including the Palaio Frourio in Corfu and a live television broadcast in Crete. Michael’s ensemble experience includes performances with Seattle Opera, the Seattle Guitar Quartet, the New Performance Group, and with the St. Helen’s String Quartet. Current projects include Wesito, an ensemble comprised partially of string members of the Seattle Symphony performing the music of Latin America, and in duet with violinist Akemi Uchida at the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton.

Tickets: $15advanced, $18 at door
Cosponsors: Dr. Ray Hedahl & Dr. Mariann Tonder, Poulsbo Eye Care, Silverdale

For questions about the musicians contact Michael LeFevere at : (206) 509-4815 or (206) 368-6918



Biographies:

Akemi Uchida

Violinist Akemi Uchida spent her formative years in Yokohama Japan and Seattle, WA. She received a B.M. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she was a full-scholarship student studying with Charles Treger. Upon completion she received a teaching assistantship at the University of Akron, Ohio, giving many concerts as a member of the Marini String Quartet. She continued her studies at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart in the class of Kolja Lessing, where she received the soloist diploma with distinction. During the 2002-03 season, Akemi was appointed as a co-concertmaster of Kamerata Athens under the direction of Sir Neville Mariner in Athens, Greece. Currently she is a member of Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Orchestra directed by Daniel Harding and Claudio Abbado.

Akemi, has given solo and chamber music recitals throughout Europe, North and South America, and Japan. She has served as a concertmaster of the Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra, Tuebinger Kammerorchester and Wuerttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. She has participated in numerous music festivals including the Lucerne Festival and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France, and the New York String Seminar.


In addition to her musical activities, she is a certified yoga teacher and is pursuing studies in Ayurvedic medicine.


Michael LeFevre

International award-winning guitarist Michael LeFevre began playing at an early age, picking up his father’s hollow-bodied electric to learn the songs of his childhood idols, the Beatles. After a few years of learning folk, rock, and blues tunes, his interest turned to classical guitar and he began his formal training at the age of 15 at the Willoughby School of Fine Arts in Northeast Ohio with George Gecik. Michael began his college level studies at Kent State University where he studied with George Bachmann and performed with the early music ensemble Collegium Musicum. After two years there he moved to Seattle to study with Steven Novacek at Cornish College of the Arts where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1992. Since then, Michael has earned several awards for his solo playing: in 1993 he took first prize at both the Northwest Guitar Festival and Portland Guitar Festival Competitions, in 1995 he took first prize at the International Guitar Congress Competition in Corfu, Greece, and in 2001 he won the LMC Awards-Tour Competition in Seattle which is open to all classical instrumentalists. He has given solo concerts throughout the Northwest and in several locales in Greece, including a performance at the Palaio Frourio in Corfu and a live television broadcast in Crete. Michael’s ensemble experience includes performances with Seattle Opera, with the Seattle Guitar Quartet, with the New Performance Group, and with the St. Helen’s String Quartet. His debut CD on the Rosewood Recordings label, Chronicle, was praised by Soundboard magazine for its “great attention to nuance” and “spirited playing.” Michael has been a committed teacher of the classical guitar for over fifteen years, since 2004 he has been on the faculty of the National Guitar Summer Workshop, and in 2007 was appointed to the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts. Upcoming projects, in addition to work with the guitar trio M3, include performances with Wesito, an ensemble comprised partially of string members of the Seattle Symphony performing the music of Latin America, and in duet with the Berlin based violinist Akemi Uchida to be performed at the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton.